A Fatherly Figure
by RustyRick
Summary: Set in the continuity of the 2001 anime series, Jet Link/002 tries to resume his original life in Brooklyn following the defeat of Black Ghost for good, and continues to try and be a good influence and supportive of the young boy Jimmy, but things get tense when a figure from Jimmy's past shows up...
1. Chapter 1: A Figure From the Past

( Author's note: This fic's based on the 2001 anime series of Cyborg 009 and is a continuation based on episode 19: The Hero. If you haven't watched that episode, I'd suggest you do, in order to understand the background of this fic more clearly. )

He hung out of his apartment window with his left arm leaning on the edge of the window, while munching on a basic cheese sandwich, observing the city from above as he noticed the city's sky was bright blue, and the sun was shining as well. 'Hmm...didn't expect the weather to turn out so exceptionally sunny.' The red-haired young man munched down the last remains of his sandwich as he closed the window, his hands reaching out for the blue jacket he wears frequently when going outdoors intending to get some fresh air, and to check up on how his friend was doing...

'Where is he? I thought we agreed on doing some practice here...' A young boy with freckles and a blonde haircut sporting bright blue eyes darted his eyes around the large park not far from downtown Brooklyn, hoping to spot someone, but his hopeful eyes diminished slightly as he started to bounce the soccer ball around a bit with his feet, thinking to himself. 'Maybe he's just late...'

'Hey there, sport!' He heard a voice calling out to him from behind, and turned around, his frown turning to a bright smile instantly. 'Jet! I knew you wouldn't be late!' The pointy-nosed man scuffled his hand through the boy's hair, grinning slightly. 'Hehe, I can't be late for my number one fan now, can I?' Removing his hand, he walked towards the open grass field with the boy, spotting very few people on the field so far, it being a ideal place for soccer practice.

'Oh, before I forget, how'd school go, Jimmy?' Jet looked down to the kid, him responding fairly optimistic as he juggled the ball with his hands. 'It went pretty well today, actually. I've got a really helpful teacher who took some time off past school time to help me with some math problems, and there's this kid called Tim, who's-'

Heh...' Jet listened on as Jimmy rambled on, making him feel more at ease somewhat himself. (That lil' kid sure's doing better since last time I saw him.)  
'Huh? Did you say something, Jet?'

'Eh? Ah! Never mind, I was just thinking about something, but it's great to hear you're doing well at school, Jim.' He smiled faintly to him as they arrived at the center of the field, looking around to make sure no one's in the vicinity of their practice so they wouldn't get a ball hurled in their faces, and ran in opposite directions of each other, Jimmy eagerly waiting for Jet to kick the ball towards him. 'Come on, give me your best shot right away, Jet!"

'Heheh, easy there, Jim.' He bounced the ball skillfully with his knees, noticing that Jimmy's eyes are glued to the ball's position. 'In order to get a good kick in, you gotta warm up first with some dribbling to get your legs in shape...and then, hiyaa!' Letting the ball hit the ground before kicking it with the side of his feet, the ball soaring through the air, but Jimmy did an impressive jump and kicked the ball back towards Jet's direction, though it flew to the side and landed on the far left near the walkway pavement where a man was looking at a scribbled note as he was looking around for something, and noticed the ball.

'Huh? A soccer ball?' He picked it up prior to noticing a lanky guy and a kid running towards him.  
'Hey, mister! Can we please have our ball back?' Jimmy shouted to the man holding it, but suddenly stopped in his tracks when he got closer and realized who it was.

'Yeah, what he said.' Jet approached the man, him handing over the ball. 'Sure, nothing wrong with playing some soccer out in the open field, right?' Jet chuckling slightly. 'Heh, it is pretty great weather today for it. Right, Jim—huh?' Jet grew worried when he turned his head around and noticed Jimmy trembling slightly, his facial expression giving off a uncertain vibe, though clearly uneasy, and Jet walked towards him. 'Hey Jimmy, what's wrong?'

The man stepped forward as well, his face also uncertain, looking at the young boy. 'Hold on...Jimmy, right? Are you—'  
'Hrngh!' Closing his eyes to avoid eye contact with the man as Jimmy suddenly turned around and ran, Jet reaching his hand out to Jimmy in concern. 'Jimmy?!' Jet wanted to chase after him, but he heard the man call out to him. 'Excuse me, but can I ask you something?' Jet turned around, though in a haste. 'What is it? I need to check up on what's bothering my friend.'

'Yeah, that's exactly why...' The man whispered out, looking somewhat ashamed to the ground, his expression clearly being a guilt-filled one, piquing Jet's curiosity. 'Huh? Whaddya mean?'  
The man decided to confront Jet with the truth, and addressed his issue directly. 'Look my apologies for scaring off your friend, but...we knew each other in the past, and I think that's why he ran away.'

Jet looked slightly aggravated to the man, not wanting to be beaten around the bush with this mystery. 'Look pal, I dunno what your deal is with that kid, but if you're up to something, I'll—'

'I'm Jimmy's father, George.'

'Wha...?' Jet's eyes widened as he took a closer look to the black-haired man, his eyes seeming the same color as Jimmy's now that he mentioned it and he backed off slightly. '...Really now...' His eyes however, remained stern and he folded his arms, wanting to know for sure. 'If you're his dad, then what's his mother's name?'

'Catherine, or Cathy as she's more known to her friends.' Jet was surprised to see him actually guess it correctly right away without having had to think about it, which to him was proof enough for now that he was telling the truth, and eased up slightly towards him. 'That's right...what are you doing here?'

The man named George explained it to him as they walked in the direction Jimmy ran to, him explaining the situation to him. '...and I just couldn't handle both the responsibilities of my work and my role as a father while under heavy pressure from my finances, so in order to get it all sorted out and to prevent myself from going nuts, I...I had to leave my wife and son behind and move out of town because of my work.' Jet just listened on, noticing he was starting to sniff, tears forming from his eyes. 'I...I couldn't stop thinking about them for the last few months, and with all the horrible stuff that happened recently around the world, I just...I'm determined to find my family and apologize to them for doing something so horrible! That's why I finally got around to get a few days off from work and visit Brooklyn again to find my wife and son, and when I saw Jimmy's face after so long...I just...I want to talk to him, as a father to his son...and apologize.'

Jet felt sympathetic for the man, but he still clearly remembers Jimmy's word on how his dad just practically abandoned him, and wasn't so easily persuaded to just lead him to Jimmy's place. 'Look, George, was it? Your story might be true and all, but that doesn't change the fact you just ditched your family and left them to fend for themselves, according to what Jimmy told me. And I care for his well-being, you know?' He glared towards the man with a intimidating look, the man swallowing his breath, seemingly determined to carry out his mission of making up with his family no matter what, and steeled himself.

'I know all too well how you feel and you're completely in the right for distrusting me, though who are you exactly that you seem to know Jimmy and his mother so well then, if I might ask?'

'Oh, I'm just some average guy who encountered Jimmy in a rough spot with some other kids in some street alley and I backed him up. That's how I got to know him and his mother and he's a close friend of mine that I look after, that's all.' Jet explained, not wanting to bring up any more unnecessary info about him, though he extended his hand out to George. 'Oh, and the name's Jet by the way.'

'Well, nice to make your acquaintance, Jet.' George shook his hand, though he did insist on wanting to visit Jimmy's place, and pulled out a cellphone, showing him a digital picture of him and Cathy standing in a room with Jimmy in between them. 'Here, in case you still had any doubts...I really do wish to talk to my son, if just once. I have a feeling they still live in the Bronze Bull street apartment, if you could confirm that for me?'

After thinking about it for a few seconds, having the option in his hands to lie to him and tell him they moved to another place, or confirm it to him, Jet decided to tell him the truth, deciding that it would be for the best to allow Jimmy's apparent real father to talk to him one more time and see from there. '...Alright then. They still live in the same apartment. As far as I'm concerned, you're free to pay a visit to your family and I'm ultimately not one to deny you doing that.' He turned around to walk away towards his own apartment but after taking a few steps, he stopped to tilt his head towards George, still looking at him suspiciously. '...But I'm warning you, don't you dare make Jimmy go through another hell, or you'll have to deal with me.'

'I understand all too well, Mr. Jet.' The man still thanked him genuinely even after that hard meeting, and wandered off on his own, Jet looking to the sides of the main traffic road before crossing it, sighing to himself. 'Hope I made the right choice for ya, Jim..'


	2. Chapter 2: Setting up an Stayover

Meanwhile at her apartment, Cathy was busy cooking up dinner for herself and Jimmy but couldn't help to keep thinking back on when Jimmy returned home on his own a hour ago and seemed rather evasive about telling how soccer practice went with Jet, and seemed insistent on going to his room to make his homework. 'I just hope nothing bad happened between them...'

*RING*'Huh?' Lowering the stove fire, she walked towards the entrance and opened up. 'Hello, how—AH!' Her face briefly turned white, stepping back as she didn't expect him to turn up again out of all the people she knew in her life.

'Hello there, Catherine...' The man looked at her with a guilty face, though trying to remain as humble as possible. Though she immediately frowned to him in pure anger, but kept her voice low as to not alert any other people in the building. 'What in the world are you doing here?!' She hissed to him, the man immediately bowing his head down in an apologetic manner. 'I...I've wanted to talk to you and apologize for what I did all those months ago...'

She viciously glared to him and was about to close the door. 'You've been about 8 months too late with that, and there, you had your talk with me. Now scram!'

'P-please, Catherine!' George put his hands together in an apologetic manner. 'Is there really no way for me to at least explain myself to you?'  
'No.' She slapped his hands away from her sight. 'Ow!'  
'Let me make one thing clear to you. I don't care if you ditched and forgot about me. I could manage myself easily if I had to, but how could you in all possibility just leave your own darned son behind and not even have the audacity to keep in contact with him?! I had to take care of us both through that hellish time when you decided to just leave us to our own fate, and you seriously expect yourself to be able to explain that?!' She was now trembling from pure anger, mentally restraining herself from just decking him right in the face, and instead pointed firmly to the staircase. 'Leave, and don't you dare come back. You've caused enough damage to this family.'

Sighing in defeat and disappointment, the man sulked off, mumbling as he opened the door to the staircase down the hallway: '...I'm residing at the Silver Onion hotel for the next few days, in case you might reconsider—'

'LEAVE, NOW!" She shouted, George now running down the staircase in panic, the elderly neighbor next door coming out of his front door. 'Hey, Cathy, are you alright?' She panted slightly, trying to remain calm to her neighbor to not get him involved in any drama. 'I'm fine, Mr. Normington. Just a persistent house-to-house seller.'

Closing the door, she sighed from exhaustion as she walked back to the kitchen, putting the food on the plates as she wiped the small tears from her eyelids away with her arms. 'Jimmy, dinner's ready!'

During the dinner in the living room, Jimmy was eating his vegetables quietly, Cathy deciding to just confront Jimmy with the issue, knowing full well now why he avoided talking to her about the afternoon.

'Jimmy, sorry if I have to bring this up, but...' Hearing her on the opposite side of the table, Jimmy put down his fork and knife. 'What is it, mom?'

'I know why you didn't want to talk about what happened earlier...and he was here a bit ago, that father of yours...' Hearing that, Jimmy quivered slightly. 'R-Really?'  
She nodded, but she rubbed him on the shoulder. 'Yes, but don't worry. I told him how I felt about what he did, and told him to never return again.' She then asked to him in a slightly doubtful tone. 'Or...was I wrong for saying that?' Jimmy responded with clenching her hand with his tightly, assuring her of something. 'No! Of course not! I don't like him for what he did as well, and you were strong for telling him to go away.'

Hearing those words from her son, she got up and walked up to him, hugging him tightly. 'Jimmy...you're a strong boy and I will always love you no matter what.' She got pretty emotional there, Jimmy patting her on her back to cut it out. 'Hey mom... I love you as well, but dinner might get cold if we continue like this.' Snapping out of it, she giggled slightly. 'Oh, you're right! And I do have to work soon as well.'

After finishing up on their dinner and Jimmy helping Cathy out with doing the dishes, She put on her coat and told Jimmy the usual. 'Alright, I'll be back around 22:00 PM, Mr. Normington will come by in about 10 minutes to keep you company, and if there's anything wrong you can call the hotel and ask for me.'

'Yeah yeah, I know mom.' Jimmy responded, knowing the usual routine. 'Have a good evening at work, alright?' Responding with a smooch on his cheek, she opened the door. 'I will, thanks. You make sure to finish up on your homework and not go to bed too late.'  
'Gotcha!"

Walking out of the local night store with some drinks and an easy meal for the night, Jet couldn't help but think back on the conversation he had earlier this afternoon with George, and kept thinking on how Jimmy and Cathy would cope with this if they already had a visit from him. ((I oughta check up on Jim just to make sure...)) He grabbed his cellphone from his coat and dialed Cathy's phone number at home that she gave him out of trust ever since he returned and decided to settle down in Brooklyn again, the phone ringing...

'Hello?' An elderly man's voice responded on the other side when the phone answered.  
'Oh, hey. This is Jet speaking. Is Jimmy at home?' He responded, walking further down the road.  
'Jet...oh! You're that guy who hangs out with Jimmy sometimes, right? Yes he's here, hold on.'

'Jimmy?' The boy got up from watching a movie on TV as he was done with his homework a while ago. 'What is it, Mr. Normington?' He handed over the phone to Jimmy. 'Here, it's that Jet fellow.' Jimmy eagerly took the phone from him, and responded with a optimistic tone. 'Hey Jet!'

'Hey there Jim. Look, I'm calling you just to check up on how you're doing, alright? You just ran off suddenly earlier this afternoon when you saw that guy...' Hearing that, Jimmy felt some guilt creep up on him for just running off like that without even saying anything to Jet. 'Oh, right...I'm really sorry about that, it's just—'

'Hey it's fine.' Jet assured him, telling Jim that he learned George was his father, and that he warned him to not make Jimmy cry or do something horrible or he'd had to deal with him.'

'Really?' Jimmy questioned, sounding happy that Jet was looking out for him like that.  
'Of course, Jim! You're my little bud and I'll always back up you and your mom.'

Jim felt warm inside hearing that. 'T-Thanks, Jet...'

Grinning himself now feeling more upbeat hearing Jimmy's tone, he wanted to make another appointment. 'No problem pal. Hey ya know what? If you promise you do well at school tomorrow and make your homework I'll arrange something with your mother so you can have a stayover at my place and we'll have a men's evening with snacks and some good action movie, alright? I'll even get you to school first thing in the morning!'

'Really?! You can count on that!' Jimmy responded super-excited, nearly making Mr. Normington flinch from his voice. 'Hey, you nearly scared me there!'  
"Whoops, sorry. But yeah, deal!' Jimmy responded, really looking forward to it.

'Alright bud, I'll see you tomorrow in any case!' Jet hung up, picking up his pace to get back home, his stomach growling. 'Bah...I should ask Cathy for some cooking tips while I'm at it...huh?'

Noticing a black car tucked in a alleyway as he turned a corner, he had a slight suspicion that something nasty was up, being familiar with these kind of parking and car color tactics being used in some kind of heist setup. 'Wasn't there a jewelry store just around the corner too?' He said to himself, walking towards it, noticing that almost nobody was walking on the street at this hour, and he saw light burning from the building's main's floor, despite the closed sign hanging there.

'Really wish I had 003's vision...oh well.' Hurrying to the building, he snuck up to the window, peeking through the shutter holes, spotting two figures standing in front of a woman who was trembling, him ducking down and sneaking to the side. 'Looks like a robbery to me, alright...how to get in? If I barge in through the front, they might panic and shoot her.' He then noticed a window on the upper floor hanging open, grinning. 'Bingo...'

'Come on, hurry it up will ya?!' The left burglar demanded, pounding his hand on the counter impatiently, the other one gesturing him to keep quiet. 'Sssh, you'll blow our cover if you shout like that.'

'So what? If this broad takes too long some cop will notice this and check it out.' He responded, turning his face to the woman. 'About done?!' She nervously gave them a pouch containing all the jewelry she had on display below the counter, and stuttered out in fear: 'H-H-Here you g-go...p-please don't shoot-

*ZAP* 'Aiiieee!' 'Argh!'  
Suddenly the sole gun the impatient burglar was holding got shot out of his hand by a plasma gun, the woman shrieking and cowering in fear under the counter, the man holding it trying to pick it up from the ground, while the other could barely make out that a man was standing near the back at the staircase sporting a large red spiky hairdo who fired said plasma beam before briefly igniting his feet boosters to ram into the one trying to reach for the gun, ramming him against the floor and the impact knocking him out cold. 'Uargh!'

'Ah...UAAAAAH!" Never having seen something like that, the other burglar panicked and dropped the pouch, crawling under the shutter in a hurry and rushing for the car outside. 'Damnit!' Jet got up and rushed for the shutter, though just as he crawled under it, he spotted the car speeding out of the alleyway and around the corner with the screeching tires loudly echoing through the street. 'Grr...' Deciding it would be best to assure the woman's safety and have the cops come over to arrest the knocked out one, crawling backwards, the woman still trembling in fear.

'Hey, are you okay—'  
'DON'T SHOOT ME, P-PLEASE!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, Jet sighing as he had to calm her down carefully.

'Haaa...haaa...' Having managed to drive away and parking the car in a old abandoned garage in a slump neighborhood not far away from where he just escaped, the burglar removed his mask, revealing himself to be George. 'What the hell was that guy doing there?!' He shouted out loudly to himself, prior to finally calming down somewhat. 'Is he a machine or something?—ah!' Hearing the cellphone ring, George answered, the number belonging to his boss. 'B-boss? What, the robbery? I'm sorry, but it was a disaster. Some superhuman caught us off guard and nailed down Harold. I had to make a bail for it! Huh? Explain myself at the hotel? S-Sure thing, boss...' Sighing in deep frustration, George put away his mask and stepped out, walking towards the Silver Onion Hotel...


	3. Chapter 3: A Terrible Twist

'Man...sure took me a while to calm down that woman.' Jet entered the apartment he resided at, climbing the staircase up to his own address and opened up the door placing the drinks and his own meal on the countertop, heating up a pan first.

'Though...it was nice of her that I could have something small from her store for free for saving her.' He commented fiddling through his pocket holding a small ring in his hand. 'Meh, guess being the hero does have it's benefits every once in awhile.'

Meanwhile, as George carefully crossed the road to the other side, he finally managed to make his way to the Silver Onion hotel, and searched around the main entrance looking for bodyguards belonging to his boss amidst the gamblers and wealthy tourists who wandered around the lobby.

'Hey, there you are.' Two men wearing white suits signaled for George to follow them into a small hallway to the left, him complying immediately, swallowing his breath as he prepared to explain himself in front of his boss. The two remained silent on their way to a staircase which led to a private room upstairs, opening the door as they pointed their thumbs for him to enter, closing the door when he did so.

'So you wanted to speak to me, boss?' He trembled slightly in his legs, looking at an elderly man with gray hair closing his cell phone on the other end of the room as he looked out of the window overlooking a small portion of Brooklyn, and blew out a puff of smoke from a cigar taking it out and rubbing the lit end on an ashtray.

'I sure do, George...' He turned around, walking towards one of his goons as his eyes pried at his. 'I've placed alot of faith in you, and you've done a good job of living up on your promises so far, but I'm wondering just how in the hell you could mess up a simple small jewelry store heist?! I know for certain that that woman was supposed to be alone!'

The man still quivered, but he steeled himself in order to not seem mentally weak to his boss. 'I-I know boss, and it was at first! But then some kind of superhuman showed up and tackled Harold down in the blink of a eye—wait, I know...'

Something bright just came up in his mind, and George reached out for his cellphone, his boss tilting up an eyebrow. 'Huh? Whaddya getting at with this, George? Hm?' He showed him a picture he took of the man he saw earlier at the store but it being taken from downtown earlier in the afternoon, it showing the side of his face pretty well. 'This is him! It's the same guy I saw earlier this afternoon while I had some time off looking for my son who interrupted the robbery!'

The mere sight of the man on the photo suddenly made his boss nearly drop his jaw in silent shock, and he seemed to whisper out something. '...him...'  
'Huh? What is it, boss?' George questioned, but his boss looked at him with a stern face. 'So you seem to know this punk?' George explained to him that that man named Jet seemed to be on good terms with his son. 'So he's the kid's new father?' His boss wondered, George objecting to that thought. 'Bah, I don't hope so...but he didn't seem to be anyway.'

'Whatever. This means that he must be outdoors pretty frequently. Tell you what, George. I'm gonna order my men to be on the lookout for this chump, and that includes you, got it?' He grabbed George's shoulders, him reacting surprised. 'What? Really?'

'See it as a chance to make up for that blunder, but since you're such a loyal guy, I'm gonna leave the capturing part in your hands when we'll find him since you seem to know him so well. But whatever you do, bring him to me alive, understood?'

George nodded, agreeing to that plan easily with his boss patting him on his shoulder. 'Good, now go and get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day and I've got to tell one of my clients that the jewelry delivery will be delayed...'He glared to George as he turned around, his boss gesturing with his fingers for the bodyguards to open the door, George running out immediately.

Though as he dialed the number, he took one more look at the photo on George's cellphone of Jet that he forgot to take with him when he left the room. 'I don't care if he still looks the same...when I get my hands on that cocky bastard, I'll...oh, Mr. Grombert. Yeah, about those jewels...'

The next day went along just fine for Jimmy. He did his homework diligently much to his teacher's surprise and exiting the school building, he noticed Jet standing on the pavement hanging near the school gate talking to a brown-haired young man who seemed about the same age as him, and Jimmy dashed towards him immediately. 'Hey Jet!'

Noticing the young boy heading towards them, Jet grinned optimistically as usual. 'Hey there Jim.' He greeted him with a high-five. 'How'd school go, I hope the teacher didn't chew you out too badly? Hahah.' Jimmy chuckled, shrugging. 'Of course not! I paid good attention during class like I promised to you and mom.'

'Good sport. Now then, I'd like ya to meet one of my friends who I told you about.' Jet gestured for his friend to step closer, who smiled gently to him. 'This here's Joe, a good friend of mine—whoa.'

Upon hearing that name, Jimmy ran over to Joe, grabbing his hand. 'Wow, you mean Cyborg 009, the really speedy one from your stories?!' Joe returned the handshake, and nodded. 'Yes, that's me. So you must be Jet's good friend Jimmy, right?'

'Uh-huh! Is it true that you really were in outer space and trapped by Black Ghost on the brink of defeat and that Jet had to save you from being blasted to bits by his devastating energy beam attack?!' Joe responded with a slightly confused look, Jet chuckling slightly awkwardly in response, though Joe played along with his version of the events as to not make him look bad. 'Yes, that's right. If it weren't for Jet I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet you today here, Jimmy. A real pleasure to meet Jet's biggest fan, haha.'

They drove in a car parked nearby towards Jet's apartment, Jet explaining that he doesn't have his own car yet and asked Joe to drive them there from school, since he was in the neighborhood anyway. Though they were unaware of the fact that another car was tailing them subtly from another crossroad...

Arriving at Jet's apartment, Joe followed them up to the entrance to Jet's own home address, and shook Jimmy's hand to say goodbye to him. 'Well Jimmy, it was a pleasure to meet you but I've got some other things to take care of. You have a blast of a time with Jet and his stories, alright?' Exchanging a sly wink to Jet, who just walked ahead inside, leaving the door open.

'Of course! Though I'd love to hear how you fought against that dreaded Black Ghost from you as well sometime soon!' Joe chuckled, finding it amusing how Jimmy would be so ecstatic to hear about his tales as well, and grabbed a small notebook from his jacket as well as a pen, quickly scribbling down his phone number. 'Here, call me this upcoming weekend around the evening with this phone number and I'll be eager to tell you, that a deal?'

He accepted the note. smiling eagerly. 'Really? Thanks alot, Joe!'  
'Heheh, well talk to you later.' Joe waved him goodbye as he descended down the staircase, laughing to himself once he stepped inside the car. 'Jet should really make a living out of being a writer, he certainly knows how to give a amusing twist to stories...'

After Jet finally managed to make a basic stew dish successfully due to a detailed receipt that Cathy gave him a couple of days ago in order to impress Jimmy, the two spend some time making some homework for Jimmy's sake like he promised to Cathy with Jet actually learning more from what Jimmy showed him than it was the other way around, though he managed to finish up his biology homework from the books alone, and Jet stretched his arms out when Jimmy put the papers away in his bag.

'Yaah, well then now that we got the mandatory school stuff out of the way, how about we start watching one of those action movies I hired?' Jimmy checked the covers eagerly looking for one that interested him, Jet then realized he didn't ask what kind of snacks or drinks Jimmy liked. 'Darn it. Hey Jim, you're confident in going out and doing shopping on your own, right?'

'Yeah, why do you ask?' Jet searched through his wallet, giving Jimmy 10$. 'Here, I forgot what kind of stuff you really like to eat for with the movies, so you can go ahead and buy whatever you like. There's a store that's always open during the evening about two streets away from here if you head straight from the apartment's direction, got it?'

He nodded, grabbing his coat. 'Understood! You better have the movie on standby when I get back, alright?' Jet chuckled in response, waving towards Jim. 'Haha, deal!" Jet sighed to himself when Jimmy left however. 'How can I be so concerned about him and not even know what kind of stuff he really likes to eat?'

'Zzzz...' One of the thugs in the black car was snoring, another one whacking him on the head. 'Hey, no time to fall asleep now, Frank! We gotta be on standby for when we get the perfect opportunity.'

'Ack!' Grumbling as he adjusted his mask, he commented on it. 'Bah, at least let me nap while we're waiting. Besides, where do we even need to search in that apartment?'

'Good question...' George responded, though as if on cue, he noticed Jimmy in the distance running out of the building and heading straight ahead to the left of them, spotting him waving upwards briefly, looking in said direction and spotting the man that they're looking for hanging out of a window on the 4th floor, and they adjusted their masks. 'Time to move, boys...'

'Alright, that's done with, now to-*BAM* 'Huh?!' He could barely react to the sudden sound of his front door being slammed open forcefully after the lock was shot off, and 4 men ran inside and shot him with special stun bullets that shocked Jet upon hitting him. 'What the—AAAAARGH! Grruu...*thud* Falling to the ground after feeling his whole body feeling numb, the men picking up his body and carried him out of the apartment, no one apparently having left their domains from the brief racket going on, and put him in the luggage of the car prior to speeding off...

Running up the staircase with a bag of chips and soda in his hands, Jimmy darted towards Jet's address, breathing as he tried to make it back as quickly as possible. 'Haa...huh?' He dropped the bottle and bag however upon noticing the door was forced open, the lock being blasted off and lying on the ground. 'Jet?!' He ran inside, quickly scanning the area for any sign of Jet, not seeing him anywhere inside the small complex. 'JET?!Where are you?! This isn't funny!' He shouted, but the silence filling the room aside from the traffic noises echoing faintly outside and the door being forced open made it clear to him that something happened to Jet while he was away, and Jimmy panicked, worrying that something bad might happen to him. 'What must I do?! Ah!' He then remembered the note that Joe gave him containing his phone number, and looking around, he spotted Jet's cellphone was lying on the couch, reaching out for it and dialing the phone number...

'Hmm...what about this here? You think this is what the professor's looking for?' Joe grabbed a small wrench hanging amongst a large selection hanging on the wall in a tool shop, Francoise shrugging, taking a closer look at the paper. 'It says size 17, not 11. I really wish the professor didn't write this down so sloppy while he was in a hurry...' She complained, but then Joe felt his cell phone ring in his pocket, grabbing it. 'Huh? Who could it be?' Pressing the answering button, he was greeted by a panicking voice belonging to a young child.

'Joe?! Is this Joe I'm speaking with?!' Joe immediately grew alarmed by the tone of the voice, recognizing it immediately. 'Jimmy? This is Joe, what's wrong? Jet's gone missing?! Stay there, I'll be there shortly!' Joe hung up and signaled for Francoise to follow him outside, stepping in the car. 'Joe, what happened?'  
'Jet's friend Jimmy called, he's gone missing!' Francoise gasped upon hearing that, the two speeding off toward Jet's apartment.


	4. Chapter 4: The Rescue

'...Uuu...' *splash* 'HUWAA!' The red-haired cyborg felt a cold splash hit his face, him waking up immediately and trying to move frantically from the cold shock, but the first thing that registered to his mind was the fact he was tied up. 'What the...' Looking up and down, it then occurred to him that he was in fact dangling with his wrists tied up tightly hanging above him with a hook suspending him slightly above the ground, and his ankles also tied together preventing him from moving his legs. Spotting a goon with a bucket grinning at him, Jet tried to ignite his boosters. 'Grr...why won't it work?!"

'Heh, don't bother, freak. We disabled those jets of yours while you were out cold.' He responded, the steel door then opening up to reveal a group entering, the elderly man smoking a cigar approaching him as the rest just hung back, though Jet noticed the area behind the door they entered from, it being the docks close to where he remembered having that brawl and then being captured by Black Ghost operatives long ago.

'So...you're Jet according to my friend here?' The man briefly nudged to George, Jet gritting his teeth at the assumption of George having double-crossed him, while he just stood there, not saying anything. 'Peh, what does it mean to you? I don't recall having a run-in with you or your gang, old-timer-*thud* Urgh!' Feeling a punch to his chest from the man, he stepped closer, his face more in clear view now, showing he had an arched nose and grinned, revealing that he had some teeth missing.

'Wrong, you arrogant little shit, I have a beef with you! First off, for sticking yer pointy nose in that heist last night, and second...well, take a close look at me, you filthy punk, and tell me if this face rings any bells inside that cocky little machine head of yours!'

The man grabbed Jet by his neck forcing him to take a closer look at him, Jet gasping as he did recognize the face from long ago despite the wrinkles and the aged body, it being one of the thugs that surrounded him 40 years ago on the docks outside who he delivered a hard hit to, both to the stomach and to his jaw.

'Impossible...' Jet whispered, coughing as the man released his grip, grinning maliciously. 'Good, you still remember...as do I...all too well.' He grabbed something one of his goons handed over to him, putting it on his left hand. 'You did a good number on my teeth there, Jet boy...' He turned around, showing he put brass knuckles on. 'And now, time for some good ol'-fashioned payback!'

*thud* Nrrgh!' 'What, that not inflicting enough pain on ya? How about this?!' *BIFF* URGH! Jet felt the the impact on his stomach from that one blow, and coughed, panting from the pain. 'Haa..urk!'

'And then I just returned from the grocery store that was still open a while ago, and I saw the door was busted open!' Jimmy explained to Joe and Francoise who inspected the area, deeming that Jet was indeed abducted. 'Please Joe, can you find some way to track down where Jet is?' Joe nodded, patting the frightened boy on his shoulder. 'Calm down, Jimmy. Of course we have a way to track him down. Right, Francoise?'

'Alright, there are alot of voices outside but if I focus, I should be able to pick up his voice and his location...' She focused looking out of the window trying to detect Jet amongst the many voices and sounds, but she picked up a faint noise near the docks to the west, hearing a painful amount of blows being delivered inside one of the warehouses and Jet being bruised up in the stomach and cheeks, much to her horror. 'Ah!'

'Francoise!' Joe ran over to comfort her. 'Did you find anything?' She nodded. 'Yes...I sense Jet, near the docks to the west side of town. He's being beaten up by someone!'  
'At the docks? Right then.' Joe turned his attention to Jimmy. 'Jimmy, we think we got a lead on where Jet might be. You go back to your mother's place immedia—'

'No! I wanna help Jet!' Jimmy adamantly refused, insisting on going along, but Francoise tried to reason with him. 'Jimmy, this is serious. This isn't like one of Jet's tales of bravado and heroism. Those men who have captured Jet, they might most likely be armed with guns!'

Jimmy grew somewhat nervous hearing that, but he stood firm. 'Doesn't matter! I still wanna help him because he's my friend!' Joe thought about it, and nodded to Francoise to let Jimmy come along, the three running downstairs back to the car and Joe starting up the engine. 'Alright then Jimmy, but you have to promise you'll stay at the car and not do anything rash.' 'Right, I swear I won't pull anything stupid.' They speeded off towards the docks, praying for Jet's safety...

'Hrrgh..*coughcough* Having taken quite a beating, Jet was on the brink of losing consciousness once more from the hits he took from the man, him removing the brass knuckles as he made Jet look at him once more before he fainted. 'Oh don't worry. I don't want you dead. Yet. I have some connections with some former Black Ghost affiliates who'd love to take care of you and they're gonna pay me handsomely for leaving the dismantling up to them.' Jet grew alarmed and vicious upon hearing him utter that organization's name. 'Black Ghost?!'  
'Heheh, of course. How else did I figure out that you're a machine and have those rocket jets of yours disabled?'

Jet gritted his teeth in disgust, working up the strength to spit him in the face in response, the man knocking him out without the brass knuckles in retaliation. 'Detestable punk...' He turned his attention to George. 'George, I've got a speedboat ready to transport this junk of scrap with to our clients waiting in Staten Island. Deliver him there, and I'll pay you enough so you'll never have to worry about your finances ever again.'

'Understood.' George took the unconscious Jet off the hook and carried him to the speedboat outside docked not far away from where they walked out, the boss lighting a cigar. 'Heh, beautiful night for an iron cold revenge...'

'Alright, you know what we agreed on?' Joe remarked to Jimmy, who nodded as he patiently waited inside the car, wishing Joe and Francoise to be careful as well. 'We will, don't worry.' They ran off towards the docks cautiously, leaving Jimmy to his own as he kept his eyes fixated on the docks nearby. 'Jet...huh?' He then felt that he still had Jet's cellphone in his pocket, and without any further hesitation dialed the police. 'Hello?!'

'It was around here, right?' Joe whispered to Francoise, her nodding in return, though she warned Joe about something up ahead, and they both took cover behind a crate, poking their head out slightly. 'Lots of gang members there...'

'Ah! Jet, he's being put in that speedboat over there.' Francoise pointed to the east of them, though her arm got noticed by one of the goons and he readied his pistol. 'Hey! We got someone poking around here!' They instinctively started firing at the crates, Joe immediately acting on the lethal situation and activated his acceleration mode, quickly speeding by and using his gun to fire rapid bursts of small plasma energy towards the pistols being fired by the thugs, that upon switching it off, all the thugs had their pistols knocked out of their hands simultaneously, and Francoise took advantage of their disarray to set her gun to sleep ray mode, firing a pulse wave towards the group that knocked them out unconscious instantly.

'Phew...' *WHIRRR!* 'Huh? Jet!" Francoise shouted as they noticed the sole thug speeding off with the boat across the water, Joe turning on his acceleration mode again and ran across the dock, jumping on the back of the speedboat before switching it off, shooting the chains off Jet's arms carefully, though George noticed something going on behind him, and he drew his gun quickly, firing a shot at Joe who got pushed off the boat from the impact of the shot just as he was about to shoot the chains restraining his legs, and fell in the water, resurfacing. 'Dang it! Gotta get to shore...'

'Whew...stupid cyborg freaks...' George sighed from relief as he continued steering his boat through the dockside, though he didn't notice that Jet regained his consciousness from the boat's rocking on the water, nor that his chains were removed around his arms, him quietly trying to remove the chains around his ankles carefully until he succeeded, and stepped over quietly towards George, though a thud on the boat alerted him, and Jet wrapped his arms around the criminal's neck, trying to struggle over the control of the boat. 'Argh! You damned—let go of me!'

'Like hell I will, you filthy criminal!-UURGH!' George responded by bobbing his head backwards against Jet's chin making him fall over on the boat, though George then brandished his pistol one more time, taking aim at Jet. 'Bah, I've had it with you!'

'Ah! WATCH OUT!' Jet screamed suddenly, George realizing too late that he was steering to the right while holding the gun, and the boat crashed against the dock's, making a rough landing against the pavement and sending the two flying, landing on the street. 'WAAAAH!"

'Ah!' Hearing a loud crash to the east of where Jimmy was inside the car, he couldn't sit still anymore and opened the door, jumping out to run towards where he heard the crash occur, wondering what it was.

'D-Damnit...' Jet whispered out, getting up slowly from the pavement, trying to cope with the pain from the bruises and the crash just now, but he felt himself being kicked to the side by George who got up before him now steaming mad and Jet's painful response sounded like music to his ears. 'Hah! Serves you right, you criminal trash! You've got some nerve to not only hang out with MY son, but also ruining my job! Hrraaa!' He dashed towards Jet insisting to deliver another kick to his side, but Jet now being really angry that he ignored the pain, rolled away making him miss his kick, and swiftly countered with him sweeping George off his leg, making him fall to the ground. 'Gurgh! D-Damn you!'

Jet got up, his eyes burning with anger as he tackled the floored George, delivering a blow to his cheek. 'You're one to talk, filthy hypocrite. Would you really think Jimmy would approve of his dad being involved with criminals?!'

Oof! Graah!' Raising his legs he made Jet flip over him, falling on his back as George grabbed a nearby steel bar from whatever he saw lying close by, and walked closer towards Jet who tried to get up. 'He doesn't need to know that! I had no other choice but to get myself involved with the Shadow Sharks after I got fired from my job, it was the only way for me to survive! But it's all over now...at the very least I'll make sure you're never messing around with my son ever again!' He raised his arm in preparation to smack Jet right in the face.

'HRRNNGH!" Just in the nick of time, Jimmy dashed towards his dad and tackled him from the side making him fall over and dropping the steel bar on the ground. 'ARGH! J-Jimmy?!' George yelled out in bewilderment as Jimmy immediately got up, kicking the weapon away and tried to help Jet off the ground, using his shoulders for Jet to lean on and stand up steadily. 'You get away from Jet!' He screamed towards his dad, who desperately tried to reason with him. 'J-Jimmy...rrgh...that Jet guy...he didn't tell you the truth. He's a thug as well, some ordinary street punk who got himself in trouble constantly and did some bad stuff too...is that really the kind of person you look up to?!'

'What...' Jimmy turned his face to Jet's, whose face clearly expressed remorse now that Jimmy seemed to be told the truth to him. 'Jet, is that really true? Were you a street thug?'

'Yes...I'm not gonna beat around the bush, Jim. I really was a punk who just looked out for himself in the past, and I got myself into a nasty situation that I ended up with Black Ghost that turned me into a cyborg.' Jimmy was bewildered at Jet's confirmation, though Jet then bolded his fist, and he yelled towards George: 'But at the very least I didn't abandon my family willingly! And I regret what I did in the past! Hrngh!' He stood in front of Jimmy, glaring at George. 'I'll say it again, George. Over my dead body before you'll lay a finger on my best friend!'

George now desperate and utterly losing it, shouted out to his son: 'Jimmy! Do you really side with this supposedly former thug stranger instead of your real father?!'

'At least he acts like a real father to me!' Jimmy shouted to George angrily, Jet feeling warm inside hearing him say that. 'Like a father...?'

They were cut short by the appearance of Joe who dashed onto the scene with Francoise coming into view as well. 'Hold it!' Joe pointed his gun towards George, who raised his hands in the air, now breaking down in tears and kneeling down. 'Hrrgh...GWAAAAAHAHAHAAAAARGH!'

They were then alarmed by the sound of police sirens arriving at the docks, noticing the cops spreading out amongst the buildings. 'Hold on...did you call the police, Francoise?'  
'No, I didn't.' She shrugged.

'I did! I told you I'd take safe measures to help you guys out, didn't I?' Jimmy responded with a proud face, Jet laughing as he actually was proud of what Jimmy did, for once not being afraid of the cops showing up.

As the police members rolled up the majority of the Shadow Shark members along with their leader, the cyborgs handed over George to them as well, Jimmy remaining silent as he didn't say a word towards his father as he tried to protest against his arrest desperately trying to get Jimmy's attention but he was placed in the car and transported off, Jimmy then bursting out into tears burying his face in Jet's coat, him rubbing his hand gently through his hair, holding him close with the other arm as he kneeled down. 'It's okay Jimmy...you did the right thing...'  
'Ha...uwaaa...' Joe and Francoise just stood by, not saying anything in order to let Jimmy cry out first, before they would have to bring Jet to professor Gilmore in order to have him fixed up...

The next day, Cathy heard the door open just as she was wondering when Jimmy would get home from school before she'd have to leave for her 2nd job, and turned around. 'Good afternoon, Ji—Oh my god!' She was greeted by the sight of Jimmy who looked alright but also by Jet who was covered slightly in wraps and bandages even when wearing clothing, and rushed over to them. 'What in the world happened?!'

'Cathy, this might be a tough story to hear...' Jet sat down on the couch next to Cathy and Jimmy, telling her all about what happened last night. The abduction, Jimmy's father being involved with them and how Jimmy bravely backed him up when George was about to lethally injure him, Cathy understandably widening her eyes in shock. 'W...Wha...Jimmy, is this all really true?'

'Yes mom...' but he smiled slightly optimistic. 'But...I got to travel to professor Gilmore's place as well and Jet's friends were really nice to me as well. It was so exciting to meet them.' He then realized the gravity of what they were telling once more. 'Oh...but the circumstances around it wasn't so nice, I know...but Jet insisted on bringing me back to school first thing in the morning when I woke up, and I arrived at school in time as well, and arrived a hour early before school was out so he could walk with me back home.'

'Jimmy...' Cathy sniffed, tears starting to form from the corners of her eyelids as she hugged her son close to her. 'I'm just happy you're okay!' Jimmy hugged her tightly, being glad to be home safe and sound as well. 'Mom...'

Cathy then let go of Jimmy and looked at Jet, before embracing him as well. 'Argh! My ribs!' He grunted out. 'Jet... thank you for being such a responsible man...' she whispered to him, making him blush. 'C-Cathy...' She let go of him, realizing he was in pain, and thought of his blushing as his face starting to turn red from the pain. 'Ah, I'm sorry! I let myself get carried away.'

'Don't worry, alright? I'm a cyborg, I can take some stuff, heheh...oh!' Before I go, I wanted to give ya this.' Jet grabbed the ring he got from the jewelry woman 2 days ago from his pocket, and handed it over to her. 'Here, take this as a means of me saying sorry for putting you two through all that stuff.'

Cathy was flustered at the sight of the ring, and she accepted it, gazing at him. 'Jet...thanks.' He immediately followed up on that. 'Oh, and don't worry. I bought this, nothing fishy behind it hehehe...well I gotta get home now to rest up, so if you'll excuse me—'

'Wait up, Jet.' She grabbed his hand gently, him turning around. 'What is it now?'  
'I got free this upcoming sunday...would you mind going along with us to the movies if you're feeling better by then?' Jimmy's face was beaming when she said that. 'Mom, you mean that?!'  
She nodded. 'Mm-hm! What do you say, Jet?'

He grinned, accepting her on that offer. 'Sure, sounds great! I'll let you two know how I feel this sunday then. Take it easy Cathy, and keep doing your best at school, Jimmy!' He closed the door, Cathy and Jimmy feeling at ease now, the latter running off to his room to do his homework, but not before he took a moment to think back on what he said last night, his face beaming with happiness.

"Jet...you're the best father figure I could ever ask for!"

END


End file.
